Is there an effective "turtle" opening in Chess

Is there an opening which consists in a very slow buildup of small advantages and which is particularly useful for taking advantage of an opponent's overreaching in the opening stages?

If so, is that opening considered viable?

If so, what is that opening? And can it be transposed to either side, or is it only applicable to one side or the other?

I tend to have lost my games by move 10 or so. I just keep falling for these opening traps. I'd like to give up some aggressive possibilities in exchange for a more easily defensible opening if possible.

As Black, maybe the French is for you ... (or the Caro-Kann, but I'm not as experienced in this).

As White, the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation or the Giuco Pianissimo (if your opponent plays 1. e4 e5 - if not, I think you have to play aggressively :)

Opening traps? There's a limited number of those in any opening you play; if you fall victim to one, chances are good you can avoid it next time. It sounds to me though as if you're just not very good at tactics, and if that's the case, you would do much better remedying that by tactics training than by delving into opening theory. You can't play chess without tactics.

As Black try any of the hypermodern openings. Against d4 try the Nimzo Indian and Queens Indian. The choice between the two is dictated by which knight white moves on his 3rd move. Against e4 go with the Caro-Kann or the Pirc. Against anything else try to transpose into one of these. These will get you what you want.

As white I suggest you attack and don't come out slow. That will get you killed.

Effectiveness and viability are dependent on how good you are and how good your opponents are. Chances are (unless you are playing against strong opponents) that you could get away with simply using opening principles and paying attention to what your opponent is trying to do. However since study can never be a bad thing my suggestions:

The Queen's Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. c4) generally leads to a slow build up assuming your opponent declines the c4 pawn (you should make sure you know how to attack if they do accept though). The London system is even more quiet (1. d4 d5 [or most other things] 2. Nf3).

For black if is difficult because white's first move dictates things. Consider the French (1. e4 e6) for e4 and the Queen's Gambit Declined (1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6) for d4. Opening principles ought to get you through against other things, try to work out what White is trying to do and then stop it while developing pieces and pawns towards the centre.

I would suggest that you read up on these openings on wikipedia to get an idea of the typical first few moves/ideas for further play.

It all depends on how your opponent plays his moves. I good attacker will find some small weakness in your position.